The Webb Space Telescope released the first full-color images of galaxies, exoplanets, and nebulae on July 12.
These images have never been seen before, but Webb only captures infrared and near-infrared light, and they are something that the human eye can't see.
So the question is, where are the colors coming from?
Webb Space Telescope Colored Images
According to Gizmodo, image developers on the Webb team are tasked with adjusting the infrared image data of the telescope into some of the most vivid views of the space the public has ever seen.
The image developers assign different infrared wavelengths to colors in the spectrum, like blue, red, yellow, and more.
However, according to Forbes, the processed images from the Webb team are not what the telescope saw, but they are hardly inaccurate.
Also Read: James Webb Space Telescope To Solve Universe Expansion Mystery!
Joe DePasquale, a senior data image developer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in an interview with Gizmodo that they are trying to change the minds of people about the exact image of the cosmos, as it is more complicated than that.
Webb's first test images had helped check the mirrors' alignment and captured an orange-tinted shot of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The early images were not representative color images, as one used a monochromatic filter, and the other translated infrared light to the visible color bands of red and yellow.
This means that the team could see some features of the cloud that they captured. But now, with the Webb telescope, the images that get released are full of bright colors, like the recent image of the Cartwheel Galaxy.
Astronomy is usually done outside the visible spectrum because a lot of the interesting objects in space are shining brightly in x-rays, ultraviolet, and even radio waves.
The Webb Telescope is created to see infrared light, whose wavelengths are longer compared to the visible red light but shorter than microwaves.
What Are Infrared Light on Images?
The infrared light can help penetrate thick clouds of gas and dust in the cosmos. This allows researchers to see the hidden secrets of space, according to NASA.
Scientists are curious about the light from the early universe that has been stretched as the universe has expanded. This means that what was once ultraviolet or visible light may now be infrared or redshifted light.
DePasquale said that the instruments that they have designed to extend the power of their vision, "to go beyond what our eyes are capable of doing to see light do not hurt the eyes," and to resolve objects that the naked eye can see.
DePasquale added that he is trying to bring out the most detail and the "most richness of color and complexity that is inherent in the data" without changing anything at all.
The Webb Telescope's raw images are laden with data that need to be scaled down before they can be translated into visible light.
The images also need to be cleaned of artifacts like reflections from bright stars that hit the detectors of the telescope. Before the images are cleaned, they often look like black rectangles with white dots scattered around them.
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Written by Sophie Webster
